Coal loading and piling machine



Dec. 23, 1941. R. OSTER I COAL LOADING AND FILING MACHINE Filed March 16, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 M n 5 W m Y E M 1 x 4 E ATTORNEY Dec. 23, 1941. R. OSTER GOAL LOADING AND FILING MACHINE 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16 INVENTOfi RAY OSTER ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 23, 1941 COAL LOADING AND FILING MACHINE Ray 'Oster, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Barber Greene Company, Aurora, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Application March 16, 1939, Serial No. 262,210

9 Claims.

ing machines of the type employing an endless flight conveyor carried by a boom mounted for vertical adjustment on a suitable carriage. Such machines are commonly employed for delivering coal into storage piles and for loading coal into cars,'trucks, or bins. The conveyor boom is commonly mounted for vertical swinging movement on the carriage so that itsdischarge end may be positioned to deliver the coal at various elevations to a pile on the ground or into a car truck or bin, while its receiving end remains close to the ground to receive coal which may be delivered thereto manually or by means a car of bin.

In the use of machines of this character for handling the softer varieties of tool, such as bituminous or lignite coal, serious losses have heretofore been incurred due to breakage of coal. I

An important object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor so constructed that breakageof coal in discharging to a pile on the ground or in a car, truck, or bin is greatly lessened;

Loading and piling machines of the type above referred to are commonly provided with screening discharge chutes for separately discharging the fine coal commonly called slack. A chute screen is not eilective unless of a length such that there is time enough during the passage of the' coal over the screen for the fines to sift through the lumps to the screen, and in all positions of adjustment of'the boom the chute must be disposed at an inclinationto the horizontal suihcient to insure continuous gravity flow of coal. The use of such discharge chutes causesconsiderable breakage of coal due to the drop from the end of the conveyor onto the chute and the discharge of the coal at high velocity from the end of the chute onto the coal pile. The use of a discharge chute of a suflicient length to provide thorough screening is not feasiblesince such a chute would cause a great increase in coal breakage. In coal loading and piling machines of the boom conveyer type screening chutes are inefficient for the further reason that in the lower positions of adjustment of the boom the chute is disposed at an inclination so steep that a large proportion of the slack passes with the of a loading machine, or through a chute from This invention relates to coal loading and pilcient in all positions of adjustment of the boom and which does-not cause breakage of coal.

With the above and other objects in view the invention may be said to comprisea machine as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings hereinafter described and particularlyset forth in the appended claims, together with such variations and modifications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains' Reference should be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a coal loading and piling machine embodying the invention, the

boom being shown in full lines with its discharge,

endclose to the ground for starting a pile, and in dotted lines adjusted to deliver to the top of a pile of substantial height;

Fig. 215 a fragmentary side elevation showing the dischargeend of the boom positioned to deliv'er into a truck;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line indicated at 3-3 in Figs. 1 and 5;

Fig, 4 is a fragmentary side elevation viewed as indicated by the arrows 4-4 in Fig. 3;

. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevation on an enlarged scale showing the discharge portion of the conveyor in longitudinal section, the screenbeing adjusted to a non-vibrating posi-. tion and covered by a plate so that the conveyor I discharges without screening; and

Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 constitute a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the screen with the cover platevided which has its forward end projecting belumps to the pile due to the velocity of flow of the.

coal over thescreen. a

It is an object of the present invention to provide a screening device which is highly emyond the front end of the carriage and which extends rearwardly and upwardly at an inclination between the standards 2. The boom 3 is adjustably supported between the standards 2 by means of cables 4, each of which is anchored,

to the upper end of a standard 2, passes downwardly and rearwardly under a pulley 5 mounted on .the boom 3, upwardly over a pulley 6 mounted.

over a pulley 1 adjacent the forward end of the carriage, and rearwardly to a drum 8 adjacent the rear end of the carriage. The drums may be operated by means of a motor 9 to wind or unwind the cables to raise and lower the rear end of the boom, suitable means being provided for holding the boom in its various positions of adjustrnent. The boom hoisting means is not H- lustrated in detail since such hoists are standard equipment in loading machines of this character.

The boom 3 has a downwardly inclined section III at its discharge end which is connected to the main portion of the boom by means of a cross shaft II mounted in the main section of the boom at its upper end. The cross shaft ll provides a pivotal support for the downwardly inclined section III which is held in fixed position with respect to the upwardly inclined end portion of the boom by means of braces 82 which are attached at their opposite ends in brackets i3 and I4 attached to the under sides of the oppositely inclined boom sections. It may sometimes be desirable to slightly change the angle between the boom sections and any suitable adjustable connection may be provided for angular adjustment of the section in with respect to the main section of the boom. As herein shown, the brackets M are provided with a series of spaced holes IE: to receive the connecting bolts by which the brace members are attached to the bracket.

The conveyor boom is formed to provide a trough throughout the length thereof, the main section of the boom having side walls it and a bottom wall I] and the downwardly inclined section I having side walls It which closely overlie the upper ends of the side walls it of the main section, and an apron i9 which forms a continua- 7 inclined portion of the trough is provided. A

transverse shaft 20 is provided at the lower forward end of the boom 3 and a transverse shaft 2i is provided adjacent the lower end of the inclined section l0. A shaft 22 is mounted in the upper end of the main section of the boom directly beneath the shaft ll. Pairs of sprockets 23, 24, 25, and 26 are mounted upon shafts 20, 2|, II, and 22, respectively, the sprockets 23, 24 and 25 being positioned with their top portions above the trough bottom, the sprockets of each pair being mounted within the opposite side walls of the trough and'closely adjacent thereto. Two endless sprocket chains 21 are mounted with their upper runs traveling over the sprockets 23, 24, and 25 and with their lower runs passing over the sprockets 26. The upper runs of the chains 21 are supported on guide rails 28 at the sides of the trough and the two chains are connected atintervals by flights 29 which are attached at their ends to links of the chains. The flights project above and below the chains with their lower edges closely adjacent the bottom of the trough so'that when the chains are driven in a direction to move their upper runs toward the 30, .over a movably mounted slack take-up 7 sprocket 33 on the standard 2, and over a sprocket 34 on a cross shaft 35 mounted on the under side of the boom adjacent its upper end. The shaft II is driven from the shaft 25 by means of a sprocket chain 31, and the shaft 2| at the lower end of the section in of the boom is driven by a sprocket chain 38 extending from the shaft H to the shaft 2|.

A screen may be provided in the downwardly inclined section iii of the conveyor boom. This screen is preferably movably mounted and is formed by a series of parallel bars 39 which preferably extend substantially the full length of the inclined section, the lower ends of the bars 39 overlying the shaft 2| and the upper end thereof underlying" the apron IS. The screen bars 39 are connected adjacent their forward ends by a cross bar 40 which extends across the under side of the bars 39 and which may be connected at its ends by pivots M to the side members of the boom section. The upper ends of the bars 33 beneath the apron iii are connected by a cross bar 62.

The top surface of the screen is formed solely by the flat top edges of the closely spaced bars 39 so that the sliding movement of the coal over the screen is not impeded. The spacing of the bars 33 provides narow slots through which the screenings may pass, and in order to permit free passage of the screenings through the spaces between the bars and avoid choking of the screen by accumulations of fines between the bars, the individual bars 39 are preferably thicker at their top edges than at their bottom edges and taper from their upper to their lower edges as shown in Fig. 3.

The downwardly inclined section II] of the boom is provided at opposite sides thereof with rails 43 providing supports for the lower runs of the chains 27, a bottom plate 4 1 being provided between the supporting rails 43 to form a second trough beneath the main trough through which the flights 29 travel in a reverse direction to convey the screenings away from the discharge end of the conveyor. The bottom plate 44 terminates at its upper end rearwardly of the cross-shaft 22 to provide a discharge opening through which screenings may pass and a chute 65 may be provided to receive the screenings and deliver them to a separate pile on the ground, into a. truck, or too. suitable conveyor.

In the operation of the machine, coal is moved up the main portion of the boom 3 and down to the end of the inclined section H) where it is discharged. In passing down the inclined section I 0 the slack is separated from the lumps and falls into the lower trough where it is carried by the flights 29 upwardly to the chute 45.

A suitable vertically movable support is provided for the screen together with suitable means for imparting a jolting or vibrating motion to the support and through the support to the screen during operation of the machine. The vibration imparting support comprises a screen supporting cross bar 46 which is attached to the forward ends of arms- 67 which are pivotedat @8 to the side walls of the boom section ill. The cross bar 46 is positioned at a suitable distance from the pivot ti and, preferably, near the upper end of the screen. The arms 41 carry rollers 49 which engage the top surfaces of the chains 27 traveling upwardly on the lower supporting rails43 and these rollers are jolted by the passage of links of the chains 21 beneath them. The jolting move ment of therollers is transmitted through the bar 46 to the screen bars 99 so as to jar the coal sliding slowly down the screen, causing the fines to be sifted through the lumps and to pass by gravity through the screen, thus effecting the separation of a very high percentage of the fines.

Means is'preferably provided to vary the amplitude of movement of the screen bars so as to regulate the intensity of the jarring or vibrating action and this result may be ,accomplished'by limiting the extent of downward movement of the arms 41 and rollers 49. As herein shown, the. opposite ends of the bar 46 are supported 'upon the upper ends of vertical adjusting screws 59 which limit the downward movement of the cross bar 46, arms 41, and jogging rollers 49. By adjusting the screws 60 the amplitude of the vertic'al movements imparted the screen bars 39 may be regulated, and, if desired, the rollers 49 may be adjusted to a position entirely clear of the chains 21 so that no vibratory motion is imparted to the screen bars. a

It is often desirable to pile or load coal without screening and the machine of the present invention is so constructed that screening devices may be readily put out of service. Sufiicient clearance is provided between the lower edges of the flights 29 and the screen bars 99 to permit the insertion of a cover plate and when it is desired to pile or load coal without separating the fines therefrom, the cover plate 5| may be slipped over the the boom section III and secured in place thereon by means of clamping bolts 62 passing through the plate adjacent its lower end and between the laterally spaced bars 39. By placing the cover plate 5| upon the screen bars and adjusting the grate bars 39 through the open discharge end of of the trough to the downwardly inclined porscrews 59 tolift the :Iolting rollers 49 clear of the it is discharging throughout the range of adjust ment of the boom. By adjustment of the boom,

' the discharge end of the flight conveyor may thus be maintained closely adjacent to the surface of the pile upon'which theconveyor is discharging as the height thereof increases to retard the velocity of the coal up to the time it is deposited upon the pile.

It has heretofore been considered essential to provide a discharge chute over which the coal is discharged from the conveyor to the pile, the chute serving to break the fall of the coal somewhat by preventing a vertical drop from the end of the conveyor to the ground in starting a pile.

or from the end of the conveyor to the floor of a truck body or bin. Also, the chute has provided a surface on which a screen may be placed to, separate slack from the lumps,

The provision of the inclined section at the disets, and since, the flights, after they have passed charge end of the boom, however, greatly reduces the breakage of coal and, when screening is desired, the provision of a screen in the downwardly inclined discharge portion of the conveyor trough when a chute is employed, it is necessary to space the receiving end of the chute beneath the.

upper end of the flight conveyor andinwardly of the outer end of thetrough over which the coal is discharged with suilicient clearance between the chute and trough to permit passage of the flights. The coal passing from the upper end of the conveyor to the discharge chute has a vertical drop from the conveyor-trough to the chute and the impact of the freely'fall'lng lumps of coal against the chute bottom and against other lumps causes considerable breakage. Also, the chute must-be inclined at an angle of approximately 40- or more to the horizontal in all positions of the boom in order to insure a continuous flow of coal in the chute and avoid lodgment of lumps between the bottom'of'the chute and the flights of the conveyor which would cause damage to the chute and to the flights. The velocity of thecoal moving by gravity down the chute is accelerated.

necessary thatthe chute be of substantial length in order to accommodate a screen of suflicient lengthfor effectivescreening. The longer the chute the greater the velocity of the discharge and the more breakage due to discharge of lumps from the chute to the pile.

In the machine, of the present invention the coal passes from the upwardly inclined portion tion thereof without any impact between lumps such as to cause breakage, the flights serve to retard the flow of coal in the downwardly inclined discharge portion of the trough keeping of the flights as the flights pass the 'hbrizonta'l position in their travel around the end smock-'- the forward extremity of the sprockets are moving forwardly and from the. pile, there is little likelihood of the pile building up'sufliciently beneath the conveyor to interfere with move-'- ments of the flights. With the discharge end of the conveyor close to the pile the larger lumps. engage the pile before they pass out of engagement with the flights and the flights serve to gently lay the lumps upon the surface of the pile, with the result that the lumps are not subjected to destructive impact, and there is little rolling of the lumps down the sides of the pile.

In delivering coal into a' receptacle such .as the body of a truck, the downwardly inclined discharge end of the boom may be lowered into the receptacle t bring the discharge end close to the floor as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, thus avoiding the breakage of coal incident to the use of a. chute or due to the vertical drop from the conveyor projecting over the top of the receptacle. a

The machine of" the present invention effects a very thorough screening of the coal because of the fact that the-coal passes, slowly over the.

length of the screen. It'has heretofore been proposed to place a screen in the upwardly inyclined trough of a conveyor, but such'screens have been inefficient because the weight of the In passing from the downwardly incoal tends to pack the lumps and slack together in a coherent mass against the bottom of the trough and the front faces of the flights. In an upwardly inclined flight conveyor, the material forms piles in advance of each flight, the weight of. the pile being imposed partially upon the flight and partially upon the bottom of the trough. The material of such piles tends to pack into a coherent mass due to the weight of the material. Even a vibrating screen will not efiectuallybreak up such piles and separate the fines from the lumps.

In the machine of the present invention the piles of coal in passing over the shaft H from the upwardly inclined to the downwardly inclined portion of the trough are broken apart by gravity due to the shifting of the bases of the piles in passing from the upwardly inclined portion of the trough to the downwardly inclined portion thereof. The lumps in the mass are thus separated and the pressure on the fine material between the lumps is released so that the force of gravity causes the fine material to sift through the lumps to the bottom of the trough to the screen.

It will be apparent that the device of the present invention overcomes two very serious defects of prior coal loading and piling .machines of the boom conveyor type in that it enables the coal to be handled with a minimum of breakage and in that it provides a coal screening device auxiliary to the conveying means which operates efiiciently without increasing the break-age of coal.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular form of apparatus shown and described, and the particular procedure set forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that various modificatoins of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A loading and piling machine comprising a boom arranged for pivotal movement about its lower end and providing atroughinclinedupwardly toward the discharge end said boom having a pivotally connected portion at the discharge end which is inclined downwardly, an endless conveyor having flights which travel through said trough to move the material up the trough and restrain flow of material by gravity in the downwardly inclined end portion, means for drivin the conveyor, a screen in the downwardly inclined end portion of the trough, means on said conveyor for vibrating said screen, a second trough beneath said screen in which said flights travel in a reverse direction to convey screenings away from the discharge end of the conveyor, and a chute positioned to receive the screenings from the upper end of said second trough.

2. A loading and piling machine comprising a boom providing a vertically adjustable trough inclined upwardly toward the discharge end and having a vertically adjustable portion at the discharge end which is inclined downwardly, an endless conveyor having flights which travel through said trough to move the material up the trough and restrain flow of material by gravity in the downwardly inclined end portion thereof, means for driving the conveyor, a screen in the downwardly inclined end portion of the trough, means on said conveyor for vibrating said screen, and a second trough beneath said screen in which said flights travel in a reverse direction downwardly to convey screenings away from the discharge end of the conveyor.

3. A loading and piling machine comprising a boom providing a trough inclined upwardly toward the discharge end and having a portion at the discharge end which is inclined downwardly, an endless conveyor comprising chains which travel alqngthe bottom of said trough adjacent opposite sides thereof, spaced flights connecting said chains, supports for the chains beneath said downwardly inclined portion of the trough, a screen movably mounted in the bottom of the downwardly inclined portion of the trough, and screen supporting means including rollers resting on said chains beneath the trough for vibrating said screen.

4. A loading and piling machine comprising a boom providing a trough inclined upwardly toward the discharge end and having a portion at the discharge end which is inclined downwardly, an endless conveyor comprising chains which travel along the bottom of said trough adjacent opposite sides thereof, spaced flights connecting said chains, supports for the chains beneath said downwardly inclined portion of the trough, a screen movably mounted in the bottom of the inclined portion of the trough, screen supporting means including rollers resting on said chains beneath the trough for vibrating said screen, and means for supporting said screen with the said rollers out of contact with said chains.

5. A loading and piling machine comprising a boom providing a trough inclined upwardly toward the discharge end and having a portion at the discharge end which is inclined downwardly, an endless conveyor comprising chains 'which travel along the bottom of said trough adjacent opposite sides thereof, spaced flights connecting said chains, a second trough parallel with the downwardly inclined portion of the main trough beneath the same in which said chains and flights travel in a reverse direction, a screen movably ,mounted in the bottom of the downwardly in- 6. A loading and piling machine comprising a boom providing a trough inclined upwardly toward the discharge end and having a portion at the discharge end which is inclined downwardly, an endless conveyor comprising chains which travel along the bottom of said trough adjacent opposite sides thereof, spaced flights connecting said chains, supports for the chains beneath said downwardly inclined portion of the trough, a screen movably mounted in the bottom of the downwardly inclined portion of the trough, screen supporting means including a cross bar upon which the screen rests, said cross bar being mounted for vertical movement in the boom, and rollers carried by said cross bar and engaging said chains beneath the trough. I

'7. A loading and piling machine comprising a boom providing a trough inclined upwardly toward the discharge end and having a portion at the discharge end which is inclined downwardly, an endless conveyor comprising chains which travel along the bottom of said trough adjacent opposite sides thereof, spaced flights connecting screen movably mounted in the bottom of the downwardly inclined portion of the trough, screen supporting means including a cross bar upon which the screen rests, said cross bar being mounted for vertical movement in the boom. rollers carried by said cross bar and engaging saidchains beneath the trough, and adjustable means. for limiting the downward movement of said supporting bar whereby the amplitude of movement imparted by the chains through the rollers to the bar may be varied.

8. In a machine of the character described, a trough having a screen movably mounted in the bottom thereof, an endless flight conveyor having its upperv run in said trough and comprising side chains and cross flights for moving material along the trough and over said screen, and a support for said screen having rollers which rest upon said side chains.

9. In a portable piling device adapted for movement over-general terrain, a mobile carriage, a boom movably carried by the carriage for angular adjustment relative thereto, said boom having an apex intermediate its ends to provide a unit on the short section of the boom, and a power device carried by the mobile carriage for driving the conveyor unit and for vibrating the screening device.

' RAY OSTER}. 

